The Winter Gypsy On Tour

This local Adelaide band has just released their first single Took Me By, radiating moody hues and evening drive vibes through speakers. The band plays with electric guitar riffs and minimal lyricism for an ambient debut single.

From their debut EP Page I, set to be released on August 5, the track meshes varying genres while simultaneously remaining with folk undertones. Lead vocalist Tushar describes Took Me By as being about the uncertainty and fragility of situations that are out of your control.

“Despite the minimal lyrics, the song resonates this message through the specific choice of words,” Tushar says.

Accompanying the release of the single is the video clip, directed by Gerard Wood, filmed in Mount Barker which adds to the quirkiness of the track with its exquisite backdrop. Congregated at an abandoned railway we see a group of young people moving in slow motion and participating in unexplained behaviours.

The band has garnered much praise from Triple J after releasing Took Me By and is hitting the road for a national tour in August. The tour is set to begin in Melbourne on August 28 and will be moving through Adelaide, Sydney and Canberra, before returning to Adelaide for another home town show to end the tour at The Exeter on September 17.

While their band is riding their current successes, we chat with band member Tushar.

Firstly, how did you begin as a band?I started The Winter Gypsy with Max as a side project consisting of recording some tunes for a bit of fun; while we were playing in our other separate bands.

We started getting requests to play some shows; which essentially brought us to the conclusion that we needed a band to play shows. We ended up piecing the band together with more of our close friends, and we haven’t looked back since!

The music scene can be tough to break into; how hard did you find it to break into the Adelaide circles?It’s still quite hard to be honest. We’ve only been a band since August last year, so it’s been less than a year. We can’t really complain though; we’ve managed to accomplish a lot in a short period of time!

Where did ‘Took Me By’ originate from?Back in 2008, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she continued to battle this until 2011 when she finally overcame it. Following this I moved schools and really started to focus more on music as a passion.

The single Took MeBy relates to the thoughts that were going through my head during this time in his life — “…Paradise we live in is coming to an end”. However the song itself is also about the uncertainty and fragility of situations that are out of your control.

Despite the minimal lyrics, the song resonates this message through the specific choice of words. The song was written in 2012, and had previously been recorded three times, but due to the personal nature of the song I wasn’t willing to release it until he was content with the sound; a feat that has now been accomplished
What’s it like to hear your track on the radio?It is so surreal. I haven’t actually heard myself on the radio yet, but my friends have filmed the moment and they’ve sent me videos of my track being played on Triple J. It’s such a great feeling; and the boys in the band are stoked as well.

If you had to describe your sound in three words, what would they be?Ambient, Eerie, Driving.

Where do you see the band in 10 years?Hopefully still being the family that we are, making noise together!